The Chairman
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Aug 9, 2018
- Threads
- 7
- Messages
- 171
I've posted on here before that I go through drive belts like mad. I finally went to an aramid wrapped 1/2"x 50" belt with great success as well as adding an inner spring with a modicum of success until this past month. Then it seems the belt would be tossed every two hours or so... and my lawn takes 8 hours to mow.
I've been thinking about the adjustment method used and was trying to visualize a way to use a bolt so I could just tighten it. In a recent discussion with a friend, I had an epiphany... how about a small turnbuckle? Whoa! It was incredibly easy to update the system, but boy it was hard to get the belt so it only had a 3/4" deflection. I added a jam nut so it wouldn't back off while in use. I took it for a drive and the right transaxle was still squirrelly. I jacked it up and whoa! Two brackets were cracked on the right side. I called Byrds in Lafayette County (good folk) and they had an entire kit for only $52. Yeah, I could have just welded them, but there were a few issues with doing that. Most of the brackets looked right, except for the ones right on top of the axle. They had three holes: not two. I was thinking it would be a pain to return this, so I pulled off the old bracket to match it up when I went back. Glad I did, because it was then I realized that it was an upgrade. The old bracket was only 3/32" thick while the new ones were a whopping 1/4"!!! I bolted them up, drilled a hole on either side and they look great. The kit also includes all of the grade 3 bolts you need, which was really nice. I had already changed a number of the old bolts that connected the transaxle to the brackets with grade 6, so I reused those. Yes, I kept the turnbuckle solution since it makes installing and adjust belt tension incredibly easy. I tightened it while trying to move the pulley. Once I got it where the pulley wouldn't slip, I tightened it a smidge more. There was just over a 1/2" deflection on the belt.
I've been thinking about the adjustment method used and was trying to visualize a way to use a bolt so I could just tighten it. In a recent discussion with a friend, I had an epiphany... how about a small turnbuckle? Whoa! It was incredibly easy to update the system, but boy it was hard to get the belt so it only had a 3/4" deflection. I added a jam nut so it wouldn't back off while in use. I took it for a drive and the right transaxle was still squirrelly. I jacked it up and whoa! Two brackets were cracked on the right side. I called Byrds in Lafayette County (good folk) and they had an entire kit for only $52. Yeah, I could have just welded them, but there were a few issues with doing that. Most of the brackets looked right, except for the ones right on top of the axle. They had three holes: not two. I was thinking it would be a pain to return this, so I pulled off the old bracket to match it up when I went back. Glad I did, because it was then I realized that it was an upgrade. The old bracket was only 3/32" thick while the new ones were a whopping 1/4"!!! I bolted them up, drilled a hole on either side and they look great. The kit also includes all of the grade 3 bolts you need, which was really nice. I had already changed a number of the old bolts that connected the transaxle to the brackets with grade 6, so I reused those. Yes, I kept the turnbuckle solution since it makes installing and adjust belt tension incredibly easy. I tightened it while trying to move the pulley. Once I got it where the pulley wouldn't slip, I tightened it a smidge more. There was just over a 1/2" deflection on the belt.